


I'll Be a Park

by JDSampson



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Augustine Vampire (Vampire Diaries), Denzo, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Erotica, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 02:30:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19242007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JDSampson/pseuds/JDSampson
Summary: After doing a favor for Dr Whitmore, Enzo gets a reward - 3 days alone in the same cell with his beloved Damon.





	I'll Be a Park

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to the Project Blue Book Story [Undead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080697). 
> 
> You don't have to read that story or know Project Blue Book. It's just context for how Enzo ended up sharing Damon's cell.

 

I’ll Be a Park

 

Damon sat down in the corner of his cell closest to the bars and the door to the hallway. Whitmore had never paraded visitors through the cell block before, so his curiosity had him straining to hear when normally he’d be actively avoiding the sounds from the lab.

That was the other reason he was curious. It was strangely quiet which scared him more than relieved him. If Enzo wasn’t moaning in pain, then what was he? Not dead. He couldn’t be dead. Damon couldn’t bear any of this another day if he had to do it alone.

A few minutes later he heard what sounded like Enzo’s voice. Lots of indistinct chatter. A cry that was definitely Enzo and cries of pain from someone else. Strange. Whitmore only operated on vampires and there were no others around that Damon knew of.

Mixed in with all that was the sense that someone was feeding. It wasn’t for sure but there was a change in the air; a sound, a smell. What the hell was going on?

Then things grew quiet and Damon could tell that people were leaving the lab. Doors opening and closing, footsteps upstairs. He’d been around long enough to know the sounds of the building.

Footsteps returning and finally coming down the hall. This was a sound he was intimately acquainted with. The sound of the prisoner being returned to his cell. He got to his feet and pressed up against the bars, hands hanging over the center rail waiting for the first glimpse. How bad would it be this time? What parts would be missing? The eyes were the worst. Whitmore liked to take their eyes.

Damon’s breathing went fast and shallow. The door opened and Enzo appeared. No visible wounds. Hands behind his back as always instructed. He looked fine. Healthy even, with the flush of having recently fed. Damon’s instinct had been right. But Whitmore never allowed them to feed on others so once again. . . what the hell.

“Move to the back wall,” Whitmore said.

This was also new. Whitmore never opened one cell door before the other was safely behind bars.

“Why?” He looked to Enzo for this and was greeted with a near smile.

“It’s alright. Move away from the door.”

Trusting his cell mate, Damon walked backwards until his body met with stone. And then the most perplexing thing happened, Whitmore unlocked the door to his cell and Enzo stepped inside.

This was some kind of trick.

“I don’t understand.”

“Enzo and I struck a bargain,” said the doctor. “He took care of a little chore for me and he got what he wanted in return.”

Blood, Damon guessed. Which didn’t explain the cell swap.

“Actually, I gave him a choice of deals. 6 days of rest for the both of you and triple rations – as long as you spent the six days in your own cells. Or double rations for only three days but you get to spend those days together. He chose the latter.”

Damon searched Enzo’s face for some sign that this was going to go all wrong any second but all he saw there was an expression of concern.

“I’ll see you in three days.” Whitmore left them alone.

Damon wanted to but was still afraid to close the gap between them. For the past 235 days (give or take), the only access they’d had to each other was through the two-foot, barred opening between their cells near the floor. To have the man who had kept him sane all these months standing in front of him was too surreal to fully process.

“I need you to tell me the truth,” Enzo said, his voice soft and shaky. “If you’d been offered the choice, which would you have taken?”

What an odd question. “If it meant not having that wall between us for even one day, that’s the choice I would have made.”

Enzo let out a long breath, his body almost collapsing in relief. “I wasn’t sure. Things we’ve said when there were bars between us. . . I wasn’t sure.”

“Then you’re an idiot.” Damon closed the space between them in fast for human, slow for vampire speed. He pulled Enzo into a hug; one arm tight across his shoulders while he held him by the back of the neck with the other. It had been so long since he’d felt any ‘human’ contact – if you didn’t count the vile hands of doctor doom. Damon hadn’t realized how much he missed it until he felt Enzo’s hands splayed out across his back – so warm and comforting. Squeezing with a strength Damon didn’t have.

He buried his face in Enzo’s neck, lips brushing over skin. He could smell the blood and something else – something that aroused both his inner vampire and his inner man. He tried to fight it, but he was so hungry. So very, very, hungry.

 

Enzo was drifting and dreaming in the warm embrace when he felt the slight shift in Damon. It was subtle but so familiar. Familiar enough that he was able to pull away before the fangs sliced into his neck.

“Damon, no.” He got his hands up between them, easily breaking Damon’s hold.

“You’re strong. You fed. I can smell it on you,” Damon said between panting breaths.

“One of the visitors got too close.”

“The one that looked like you?” Damon asked, a wicked smile curling up his lips. “That’s kinky.”

“That’s a story for another day. I’d gladly share my blood with you, but it’s tainted with Vervain. It’ll be hours before it’s out of my system. Didn’t you have your rations today?”

Damon shook his head. “No. Guess he forgot in all the excitement.”

“Damn, love.” Enzo ran the backs of his fingers over Damon’s cheek. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t need your strength for this. I’ll take good care of you.” He took Damon by the hand and pulled him down to sitting on the floor. It was just as well, as Damon had used up most of what he had with the hug. Now he collapsed into a heap as if it was too difficult to even keep his head on his neck.

Enzo sighed. “I know you’re hungry, my poor darling. Come here.” He wrapped an arm around Damon’s shoulders and guided him to lay across his lap. He stroked his fingers through Damon’s hair, down his face, down one arm. “I’ve dreamed of holding you like this for so long. Touching every inch of your body.” He captured Damon’s hand in his left and held it while he stroked each finger with his right. “Every finger. Your wrist. Your arm. Your ears.” He pulled on the lobe. “Your ribs and hips.”

“Even my toes?” Damon said, a touch of humor in his voice.

“Even your toes.” Enzo leaned forward to get his lips closer to Damon’s ear. “I want to memorize every part of you so I can picture you perfectly when I’m alone.”

“Every part,” Damon repeated and then he shivered with a delicious chill.

The stroking continued, across the strip of skin showing between Damon’s shirt and pants. Over his hip and back up again.

“I was worried about you today, because it was so quiet.” Damon rolled so his head was in Enzo’s lap and he was looking up into those chocolate eyes. “It was the first time since the early days that I was worried you weren’t coming back.”

Enzo stroked his fingers over Damon’s forehead, fussing with the dark locks. “I’ll always come back for you, love. I’ll always find a way.”

“And find a way you did.” Then he smiled that crooked smile and Enzo had to chance it. He leaned down and kissed that crooked smile. As he broke away, Damon wrapped a hand around his neck and urged him down for another kiss and another.

“You’re severely testing the limits of my flexibility.” Enzo lifted Damon’s shoulders off his lap then changed position, so they were both lying on the floor. Enzo stayed on his side with one arm acting as a pillow for Damon’s head. This close, he could see the fatigue in his companion’s eyes, beautiful eyes that he’d kept closed for days a time at the beginning, as if that would be enough to make the nightmare go away.

He followed the line of Damon’s jaw with a single finger then ran it softly over his dry lips. Touch every inch of skin, of flesh; he couldn’t help himself, didn’t want to stop himself. “Do you even know how incredibly beautiful you are?”

Damon smiled and nipped at Enzo’s fingers as they skated over his lips. “Of course. I make roses look like ragweed.”

Enzo laughed and it felt so good it hurt. “What would we be doing right now if we weren’t locked up in this damned cell?”

“Same thing we’re doing now.” Damon slipped his hand under Enzo’s shirt. “Only we’d be in a fancy hotel. On a huge, soft bed with a thousand pillows.”

“Mmm, that’s nice.”

“The image or this?” Fingernails gently scraping skin.

“Both.” Enzo slipped his free hand under Damon’s shirt matching his moves. “Tell me more.”

“The sheets are red satin.”

“Tacky.” He laid his head on Damon’s chest listening to the beating of his heart as his hand continued to wander.

“My mistake, crisp white cotton but so soft. The blanket is thick and warm, but we mostly don’t use it – not at first because we’re both all hot and sweaty.”

Shirt pushed up to mid-chest. Kisses across the belly.

“We have champagne and caviar but they’re both getting warm because we’re too busy to taste them.”

Enzo hummed against Damon’s flesh. “Too busy doing what, my love?”

Damon laughed and pushed but Enzo didn’t budge.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to show you what we’re doing in that hotel room but I’m ---” The sound of footsteps stopped him mid-sentence.

Enzo heard it, too. He rolled gracefully to his feet and put himself between Damon and the door to the cell.

Doctor Whitmore’s assistant came into view. “I hear you earned an extra helping,” he said, not bothering to hide his disgust. Instead of the usual thimbles of blood, he dropped a blood bag inside the cage. “Bon appetite.” Then he was gone.

Enzo could barely contain his joy. Not only for the extra blood, but because he knew that would be the last interruption for the rest of the night.

He scooped up the bag and turned and there was Damon just inches in front of him. Hungry. Dangerous. “It’s not champagne and caviar but –”

The veins rose and darkened on Damon’s face destroying the beautiful visage that Enzo loved so. But it was only temporary and once he was done, Damon would have the strength to make this night even more than Enzo had hoped for.

Damon ripped the blood bag from Enzo’s hands, snapped off the cap and squirted the liquid into his mouth.

“I guess reminding you to go slow and savor it is out of the question.” Flippant sarcasm but the smile quickly fell from Enzo’s lips. Damon was shaking, panting and then he was choking. Too much. Too fast.

“Damon! Stop.” Enzo grabbed the bag but there was no prying it from Damon’s hands. Rationally, it didn’t matter. A vampire could choke but he couldn’t choke to death. But seeing him torn up like this, listening to the horrible choking sounds – it was too much like being on the table in the lab. “Please, stop.” Enzo pulled again and this time he didn’t hold back. He ripped the bag easily from Damon’s hands and stood back lest he become a living blood bag.

Damon’s eyes had gone black. He was hunched over, panting heavily like an animal in heat. There was blood smeared across his lips and chin with more spilling out of his mouth.

So far away from the beautiful man he’d been enjoying just minutes before.

“Compose yourself.”

Damon’s eyelids fluttered closed and he took two large breaths – in and out. The black veining began to fade. The fangs retracted. And when he opened his eyes, he was whole again.

“I never was big on self-control.” Soft. Gravely. Damon lifted the hem of his shirt and used it to wipe the blood from his mouth. “I didn’t mean to take it all.”

“That’s not a worry. I just don’t like seeing you struggle so.”

Damon’s eyelids fluttered again, and his features softened even more. Well, as soft as Damon Salvatore could be with those sharp cheekbones and deep brow.

Enzo sucked the last of the blood out of the bag – waste not want not – then turned to throw the empty through the bars and into the hall. When he turned back, Damon was only inches away and that distance closed to nothing as he pushed Enzo back up against the bars.

“You’re energetic.”

“Best I’ve felt in a long time.” Damon locked eyes with his companion while his hands lifted Enzo’s shirt. The upward movement forced Enzo to lift his arms so the shirt could go up and over his head. “Stay like that.” Damon tossed the shirt aside then captured Enzo’s wrists in his hands. He kept them up above Enzo’s head encouraging him with nudges to wrap his fingers around the bars. At the same time, Damon’s lips were doing a little nudging of their own – ears, throat, nose, jaw – everywhere but on the mouth and it was making Enzo antsy.

“Kiss me properly, will you already?”

“Now who’s impatient.” Damon stroked his hands down Enzo’s upraised arms then straight down his sides with something stronger than a caress. “Makes you look so long and lean.” He pressed upward this time, using the heels of his hands then back down again with the gentle scrape of fingernails. Further down this time teasing the line along the low-slung waistband of Enzo’s pants.

That brought a moan to Enzo’s lips. He rocked his hips forward, but Damon blithely stepped back to prevent him from making contact.

“Do you know how many times I’ve listened to your savor the moment lectures?” Damon turned his own back to the bars, so they were standing side-by-side. “Hours and hours of ‘patience, my love’” said in a pretty close imitation of Enzo’s British accent. “And now, here you are, trying to rush me.”

Damon lifted his arms above his head and grabbed on to the bars, matching Enzo’s position.

“You’re evil is what you are.” With vampire speed, Enzo turned the tables, so he was the one pressing Damon into the bars. The shirt went up and over and away and that left them skin-to-skin. Enzo tried repeating the moves Damon had put on him just moment ago, but his version had a lot more kissing and more frantic touching. “Every part of you, remember? I want to touch and kiss every inch.”

When Enzo made it down to the waistband, he didn’t stop. He unbuttoned and unzipped then slipped his hand inside. “Every inch,” he breathed watching as Damon’s eyes rolled nearly all the way back into his head. “Perhaps I should stop and step away.”

Damon groaned. “Now who’s evil.” He rocked his hips pushing against Enzo’s hand while his own hands squeezed the bars above his head like he was strangling the life out of them.

“Oh, my darling, you are ripping my heart out.” Enzo removed his hand but continued the pressure with a grind of his own hips. He took hold of Damon’s face and held him tight as he ravaged his mouth that was still tinged with blood. The taste was so strong it almost activated Enzo’s vampiric transformation, but he’d had more years of practice holding back so he was able to fight it.  “Say my name.”

“Enzo. . . darling. . . honey. . . gorgeous. . . ” More mocking but Enzo didn’t mind. It all sounded so deliciously sweet coming from Damon.

Enzo dropped to his knees, freed the object of his desire from the confines of the fabric then took Damon wholly in his mouth. Damon moaned and jerked at the first touch of warm lips around flesh. He kept his hands locked around the bars and Enzo wished he wouldn’t. Wished he’d run those long fingers through his hair, holding him, guiding him as he worked.

Then it hit him like brilliant flashes of lightening with shadowy images waiting to strike. He tried to keep going but it wasn’t just the visions in his head – it was the wash of self-loathing and desperation that came with it.

Enzo stopped what he was doing. Stood, backed away and then turned and ran to the furthest corner of the cell. He laid his arm across the cold, damp stone wall and laid his head against it, eyes closed, wishing the images, the feelings would go away.

“What’s going on?” A strong hand caressed his back.

“Merciless memories,” Enzo stuttered. “Fastest way to a farthing when you’re living on the streets in London. What’s five minutes on your knees in a filthy alley if it means you don’t go hungry.”

Damon slipped his arm around Enzo and pulled him around. Enzo complied but he didn’t meet his eyes. Couldn’t right now. Not with the blush of humiliation rising in his cheeks.  
  
“That is not on you. That is on the cruel master of the world who left you all alone. And if you think I don’t have regrets. . . things I’ve done not just to survive but because I was trying to prove that I didn’t care. . . “ He leaned in for a kiss but Enzo turned his head away.

“Don’t. This is not that. I’m not some stranger looking for a fast thrill. What we’ve both been through in this place, even with a wall between us, I’ve been more intimate with you than I’ve been with anyone else in my life. Closer than my own brother, because you know what scares me, what fuels me. You alone have kept me going when I was ready to give up.”

“I’m not sure that something I should be rewarded for.”

“Giving me hope?”

“Giving you more days of pain. More nights of nightmares. I’m a terrible person, Damon.” Enzo laughed harshly. “I’m not even a person.”

“What are you saying?” Damon caught him by the chin, forced him to meet his eyes.

“You said that you were worried today because I was so quiet in the lab. And I understand that so, so well. I can’t bear the silence. I’d rather hear you crying out in agony, moaning as you lay on this floor recovering from your wounds, anything is better than silence. Because silence means I’m all alone again and I can’t bear it, Damon. For you, I’m so sorry that you’re here. But for me, I’m so grateful and that’s horrible, truly horrible.”

“No, it’s not.” Damon wrapped his arms around his sobbing companion and pulled him as tight as his arms would allow. He stroked Enzo’s hair and rocked him from side to side. It should have felt strange and awkward, one grown man comforting another this way, but it didn’t feel strange at all. It felt like the stuff of his childhood dreams. It was like that old song, ‘someone to watch over me. . . ‘

“Enz. I think your lectures have finally sunk in. Why don’t we slow this down?” Damon stepped back out of the embrace. He cupped Enzo’s face and ran his thumbs over his tear-stained cheeks. “And no more of this. We only have a few days together, let’s not spend them like this.”

Enzo nodded in his hands.

 

Damon slid to the floor and scooted his back to the wall as Enzo joined him. He slipped his arm around the younger man’s shoulders and tucked him in to his chest. In this position, Enzo could hear Damon’s heart beating. Feel his every breath and both were immensely comforting.

Damon let his free hand wander, sometimes caressing, sometimes stroking, sometimes tickling Enzo’s arm, face, chest – any patch of bare skin within his reach.

“What are we going to do on a Saturday afternoon?” said Damon.

It was a game they often played so Enzo didn’t have to think before answering. “We’ll go to the picture show. A double feature. Marx Brothers for me and a gangster flick for you.”

“That’s a pretty weird double feature. I’ll trade my gangster movie for The Thin Man. Mystery for me and it’ll still make you laugh. Plus, they have that dog.”

“Asta,” said Enzo.

Damon laughed a little. “I can’t believe you remember the dog’s name.”

“That’s what we’ll do after the show, we’ll buy a dog and take him with us on a picnic.”

The lights went out with a loud kachunk! It startled them both even though they’d heard the sound every night of their captivity. The last person out of the building always turned off the lights. It plunged the cell block into total darkness, but Damon didn’t mind. His vampire vision allowed him to see as if by candlelight. Since there were no windows to let in natural light, it was the only means they had for counting the days. Lights out and then lights on when Whitmore returned in the morning. One day.

It was an inexact count because at least twice since Damon’s arrival the lights had stayed off longer than normal. Without a watch he couldn’t tell how long but his body clock said it was at least a couple of days. The perpetual darkness was disconcerting but no one to turn on the lights meant no one to bring them their daily ration of blood.

The first time it happened, Damon feared he might have been left to starve to death in this prison cell. And he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At least the pain would be over. But Enzo would be over, too.

The second time was a little less worrisome. They’d both been bolster by the fact that no lights also meant no hours of torture for that brief period of time. Probably what inspired Enzo to cook up this little break.

“You never did tell me about the one that looked like you.”

“Apparently he was a distant relative of mine. Whitmore lured him here so he could get samples of his blood and other bits to compare to mine. Thought the difference might explain how vampire become vampires.”

“And you fed on him? Your own flesh and blood. That’s cold.” But he said it with that typical Damon “I’m joking” tone.

“Seems the good doctor ‘forgot’ to Vervain his guests before showing them into the lab. So I compelled him to let me loose when Whitmore was looking the other way. After that, I couldn’t help myself. I would have rather taken the other one but that wasn’t an option.”

Enzo shifted, snuggling impossibly closer and Damon responded by tightening his embrace.

“Can’t believe he’d forget the Vervain.”

“He didn’t. Before they arrived, he told me I was going to have to compel them both to forget, so he never had any intention of protecting them.”

“That bastard. I’ll never trust him again.”

Enzo sat up and hit Damon with a curious stare. “Oh, you were joking. I can’t always tell.”

“I’m a puzzle.” Damon laid down on his side and beckoned Enzo to join him in front like two spoons in a drawer, Damon’s outstretched arm as a pillow for Enzo’s head. “You know what’s odd.” Voice growing quieter in the dark.

“The fact that vampires actually exist and we both are ones?”

Damon tapped his finger against Enzo’s lips. “Other than that.”

“No, what’s odd?”

“What’s odd is that this,” Damon tightened the arm he had wrapped around Enzo. “doesn’t feel new at all. It feels like we’ve always done it. Like we’ve been together forever.”

Enzo was silent for a moment then said, “you’re right. And I’m glad. The only thing worse than having a wall between is would be no wall and still being apart.” Enzo sighed with his whole body. Kissed the palm of Damon’s hand. “I’ve wanted you for so long. Every time you came back to this cell, bloodied and dispirited, I wanted so badly to comfort you.”

Damon moved away and even in the dim light he saw – or perhaps more accurately felt Enzo stiffen as if he’d said something wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Gently, he turned Enzo on to his back so he could look directly at him. “You did comfort me. You couldn’t touch me with your hands, but you touched me with your words, your heart. Why do you find it so hard to believe that I would want you?”

Enzo reached a hand up to stroke Damon’s face. “Because no one else ever has. My mother gave me up. The few people I’ve known who claimed to care, all abandoned me. I’ve tried so hard to be a good person, to please, to give rather than keep for myself. And my reward for that was dying alone of consumption. Then out of the blue sky comes a reprieve. A second chance with a side of blood lust. And still I was left to figure it all on my own. I never felt more afraid and alone than I did those first few days.”

Damon smiled sadly, “I wish I had been there. Then you wouldn’t have been afraid or alone.”

“No. I wouldn’t be a bit afraid.” Enzo wrapped his arms around Damon’s neck and pulled him in for a long, lingering kiss. They continued for several minutes, then Damon turned so his mouth was to Enzo’s ear.

“Someday we’ll get out of here. I promise. And then you’ll never have to be afraid or alone again.”

Damon felt a pang of guilt for saying it because deep down he didn’t believe they’d ever be released from this hell. But it was what Enzo needed to hear right now and it was the least he could do to repay the hours and hours of hope Enzo had heaped upon him during the darkest nights.

 

They laid in each other’s arms for more than hour, not speaking, just touching and eventually they both fell asleep.   

 

 

Damon woke when the lights came back on. His senses instantly went on high-alert and his stomach rolled – a Pavlovian response brought on by months of captivity. Enzo was going on ten-years of this. It was unimaginable. 

It took a moment for the change in routine to sink in and with that came a feeling of relief that he hadn’t felt since coming to this place. Enzo was laying on his stomach, arms folded under his head, face turned toward Damon but eyes still closed. Neither of them had bothered to put their shirts back on, so Damon had a free path of skin to stroke. Neck to tailbone, with just a whisper of a touch.

“Good morning,” Enzo said, eyes still closed.

“I think I found the part of your body that I like best of all.”

“Am I a lying on it?”

“No.” Damon’s thumb ran a tiny circle over the base of Enzo’s spine. “It’s this little valley in your lower back. I don’t why, but I like it.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on the very spot and Enzo shivered in response. “What shall we do today?”

Enzo rolled to his back; eyes finally open. “Anything your heart desires, my love. I’m yours to command.” The sincerity in his voice activated something inside of Damon. Not a vampiric transformation, but a different kind of lust.

“I have an idea, but you have to trust me.”

Enzo’s expression changed to something Damon had never seen before. Not surprising since trust wasn’t something that had ever worked out well for the younger vampire. “Trust you in what way?”

Damon stroked his fingers through Enzo’s long hair. “I want to take you out of here.”

“Neat trick. Do you have a key to the cell?”

“Not a physical trip. I want to walk around inside your mind. Haven’t you ever done that before?”

“Like a compulsion?”

“Kind of.” Damon sat up and Enzo followed. “It’s like controlling a dream. I get inside your head and we can do anything we want. If I do it right, it’ll feel real.”

“And the trust part?” Enzo wasn’t ready to go for this just yet.

“I have to be stronger than I am now. If we do get double rations today, can you manage on just your usual portion and give me the rest?” As he heard the words come out of his own mouth, he realized how selfish it sounded, but in reality, what he was doing, he was doing for Enzo. “I promise to take good care of you. We can go someplace clean and soft and private where I can take you – make you mine.” Every word was another leap forward and Damon worried that he was asking and expecting too much. The last thing he wanted was to come off like one of those callous men who had used this fragile, teenage boy for their own pleasure.

Enzo wasn’t a teen anymore, but in many ways,  he was still just as fragile.

Enzo leaned into him, hand clutching the back of Damon’s neck, foreheads meeting. Damon could hear his companion’s heartbeat and it was racing with either fear or longing. “I’d like that,” he breathed out. “I want to be all yours; just yours.”

“And I’ll worship you like a god.”

Now all they had to do was wait and hope that Whitmore wouldn’t renege on his promise. With three times the blood in his system, Damon would have the strength to take Enzo to a place he’d never to before.

 

 

#  #  #

The place was a luxury hotel of Damon’s imaginary devising. It was loosely based on a place in New York he’d visited in the 1930’s. An art deco palace with gilded picture frames and ornate moldings. The furniture was all bloated, round shapes with blonde wood and elegant fabrics. And then there was the bed. The biggest, softest bed he could imagine with two dozen pillows along the headboard and a quilt made of silk and down.

Next to the bed was a table with a bottle of champagne and a dish of caviar. Damon had never tried to eat or drink anything in one of these mind trips. He wasn’t sure it was possible, but he couldn’t resist the reference to the fantasy they’d outlined the day before.

“Not bad.” Damon turned to make sure Enzo was with him. In the real world, they were sitting on the floor of the cell. Damon with his back to the wall, Enzo in front so Damon could maintain temple to temple contact.

In the mind trip, Enzo was standing beside him, open-mouthed mesmerized by the scene.

 “How are you doing this?”

“With great concentration,” said Damon. “So, let’s not waste time.”

Enzo walked over the to bed and slowly lowered his hand as if expecting it to go right through. It didn’t. It stopped when it hit fabric. The bed was as solid as the cell floor.

“It’s as real as real,” said Damon. “You can touch it, feel it, taste it.” To prove the point, he pulled Enzo into his arms and kissed him – hungry and forceful.

When they broke apart, Enzo was still suspicious. “And you’re in my head making all of this happen?”

Damon smiled that infamous crooked smile. “I am, now stop questioning it and enjoy it.”

They were both dressed in crisp, clean clothes – an odd choice for Damon’s mind to make since they were going to shed them anyway. But then stripping was part of the fun.

He pulled Enzo’s t-shirt off then nuzzled close, noting that he smelled of soap and his hair was a bit damp as if he’d just come out of the shower. He pressed forward, forcing Enzo back until his legs bumped the bed. He fell to sitting, then continued to fall flat on the thick mattress, feet still on the floor.

Perfect.

Damon opened the button fly on Enzo’s pants and peeled back the fabric just enough to get to what he was after. Enzo lifted up on to his elbows so he could see what was going on and the look of wide-eyed anticipation on his face made Damon laugh.

“No one’s ever. . . “

“What?” Damon shot back, stopping him momentarily from grabbing the prize. “No one has ever done this for you?”

“Given often, never on the receiving end.”

Damon shook his head as he settled himself between Enzo’s legs. “Then you, my boy, are about to get a real treat.”

When he took him in his mouth, the reaction was exactly as he’d hoped for. A gasp, followed by a moan, followed by Enzo’s fingers knotted in his hair. That meant he was holding himself up on only one elbow. Easy at first but tough once his entire body began to ripple with waves of ecstasy.

“Good lord.” He fell back, shoulders making contact with the mattress while his hips lifted involuntarily. He was hard and twitching. “Damon. I can’t stop it.”

“So don’t.” Damon locked his lips around flesh and accepted everything that followed. When he was done, he stood up and favored Enzo with a slow strip tease. Why not, had to give the poor guy some time to recover.

“You, my love, are a work of art. Come here and let me touch you.”

“I have other plans.” Damon pulled off the rest of Enzo’s clothes while his companion lay boneless on the bed. Then he laid a long, stuffed pillow in the center of the bed. “Face down, hips here.” He patted the pillow.

No mistaking where this was heading, and this time Enzo didn’t hesitate. He stretched out across the center of the bed; head cradled on his arms just as he’d been when he first woke that morning.

Damon straddled Enzo’s thighs, then leaned forward and kissed his way down from shoulder blades to the base of the spine, giving his “favorite spot” even more attention.  Enzo squirmed beneath him, not in a trying to get away sort of way but more like a ‘get on with it’ already kind of way.

Damon draped his body fully over Enzo’s and brought his mouth to the other vampire’s ear. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered.

“You.”

“Not good enough. More specific.”

Enzo groaned, shifted, grinding his hips into the pillow then bucking back against Damon’s hardening length. “This. You. I want you to make me yours.” Breathless now, barely able to speak the words.

Damon dragged his hands down Enzo’s sides as he sat back on his knees, hands caressing, then kneading Enzo’s backside. “I’m still not quite sure. . . . “

Enzo groaned deep in his throat with a mixture of lust and annoyance. “Inside of me, damn you. I want to feel you inside of me.”

“That’s what I was waiting for.” Damon lined himself up as he took hold of Enzo’s hips. “All for you. . . darling.” He thrust his hips forward as he held Enzo still, burying himself halfway on the first thrust. Thank you, magical mind fuck. Wouldn’t be this easy in the real world but here it was delightfully simply.

With his sharp, vampire hearing, he could hear and feel the increasing beats of Enzo’s heart. Another thrust and another and he was all in. “Something for you to remember me by,” he said, then slowly pulled out before thrusting in again.

Enzo was losing it. Incoherent words mixed with near-animal sounds – all of which, in turn, was driving Damon to the edge. Going over would feel insane but he didn’t want it to end. Not just this action – all of it. His strength was waning already, and he couldn’t bear the thought of throwing Enzo back into that cold, hard cell.

“What?” Enzo asked, forming his first understandable word.

Funny. Had Damon expressed his concerns out loud? More likely Enzo was just picking up on his mood. They were attuned to each other in that way. Not wanting to ruin the last good moments, Damon forced the dark images from his mind and concentrated on the erotic arrangement in front of him.

“Just trying to make it last, doll face.”

“I’ve never called you doll face, but I’m going to from now on.” Enzo barely finished the sentence when Damon hit that spot. The spot that turned him into a live wire.

The sudden clench. The sudden jerk of his muscles took away any chance Damon had of drawing this out. Add to that the completely carnal sounds that were pouring over Enzo’s lips and it was a done deal.

The orgasm rushed through his entire body even stronger and more overwhelming than any he’d experienced in the real world. Damn the fantasy was good, but he could feel it starting to crack. A bit of dampness. A chill. Hard cement under his knees instead of a soft bed.

“Oh Enz, I’m so sorry.”

“What? Why?”

As much as he didn’t want to sever the connection between them, Damon felt a stronger need to look Enzo in the eyes as the dream faded. So, he pulled back and slipped on to the bed. In one move, he yanked the pillow away and pushed Enzo on to his back. Then he draped himself over Enzo’s chest, kissing him with all he had left.

“What’s happening?” Enzo asked as they broke apart. But he knew. Damon could see it in the fear and sadness that was seeping into his eyes.

“I’m sorry. I can’t hold this together much longer. I thought we’d have more time.”

“No, Damon, please. It’s so perfect here. I’m not ready to go back.”

“I don’t want to go back, either but I’m out of juice. I should have gone slower. Maybe I could have made it last.”

Enzo’s palm caressed his face, then hooked around his neck drawing him down. But not for a kiss time. This time, he drew him down to his chest where he could wrap his arms around him. A drowning man clinging to the life preserver. “Just a little longer, my darling, please.”

Why not just reach in and rip my heart out? The effect would be the same.

“Close your eyes,” said Damon and closed his eyes, too.

When he opened them, the hotel room was gone, the soft bed was gone but Enzo was still in his arms.

Not even Whitmore could take that away from him – at least not for another 24 hours.

 

Enzo didn’t speak a word for what felt like an eternity. Damon tried to illicit a reaction, start a conversation but Enzo had slipped away to a place so far out of reach.

There was no way to tell for sure, but Damon thought several hours went by before Enzo finally spoke.

“I shouldn’t have done this,” he said it softly and to the wall he was facing. “I shouldn’t have made this bargain. I thought it would make things more bearable but it’s the opposite. Before, I didn’t know what I was missing and now – going back into that cell alone knowing we may never get to touch again. . . it’s so much worse.”

“No, it’s not,” Damon laid a hand on Enzo’s shoulder while his other stroked his hair. “I’m glad we had this. Because the next time I’m lying on this floor, alone and in pain from another round of torture, I’ll be able to close my eyes and remember what it felt like to have you, touch you and to have you touch me. And when all you can do is hold my hand through those bars, you’ll be able to recall every inch of my body, every heartbeat we shared, every kiss. We didn’t have that before and now we do.”

He ran his fingers over Enzo’s face that was turned away from him and they came back wet with tears.

“I know it hurts, but please don’t steal what little time we have left together. Be here, with me. The fancy room may be gone, but I’m not ready to let go yet.” Damon climbed over and fit himself into the small space between Enzo and the wall. His lips curled into a smile and his eyes were both bright and dark at the same time. “Besides, we still have a few positions to explore. A little turnabout?”

Enzo laughed lightly then lifted his gaze to meet Damon’s. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“More specific? How about this?” He breathed out and let his dark, wicked side take over just a little bit. “I want you to fuck me. Specific enough?”

“I’d say so.”

“Fine. Then stop wallowing in the corner and show me what you got.”

Enzo sighed, a slight smile gracing his lips. “You really are something else, Damon Salvatore.”

“Yeah, but no one’s ever figured out exactly what.”

 

 

#  #  #

They made the most of the time they had left trying out every position and erotic idea Damon could think of that didn’t require furniture or accessories. By the middle of the next day, they were both about as bruised and battered from the hard floor as they were after a session on the table. But in this case, getting to black and blue was worth it.

During the night, Enzo had fallen into another pit of despair which Damon allowed for a while just to help him get it out of his system. On the morning of the third day, the assistant delivered double rations one last time.

“If you take all of it,” Enzo said, trying to keep his eyes on Damon and away from the tempting snack. “Can we go back into your mind, one last time?”

Damon chewed his lip as he stroked Enzo’s face with a shaky hand. “You can’t go without any. With all the energy we’ve been exerting and how little you’ve had in the past two days – I can’t take it all.”

“But it doesn’t matter if I’m weak. I’ll be lying in my cell all alone before the day is over, I don’t need to be strong for that. One last beautiful moment, Damon. Outside this time. In a beautiful green meadow. Some place with fresh air and sunshine.”

“That’s a strange request coming from a vampire.”

“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen actual daylight? How long since I’ve smelled a flower? I want to walk outside with you. Even if it’s only for a short time. Give me that last memory.”

  

And so he did. 

 

I’ll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer:

Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale

\--Venus and Adonis; Shakespeare


End file.
